Studying Law at University - Keele University

Studying Law at University

Studying Law at University

Introduction

You are taught by a combination of lectures and seminars (also known as tutorials when smaller in size). However, class contact time is only a small part of what you should be doing. The rest of your time should be spent in private study, reading the materials your lectures point you towards, using the online learning resources and preparing for your seminar discussions. You will not succeed in law if you do not do this private study.

A good introductory text to studying Law is A. Bradney et al, How to Study Law, (6th edn.) (London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2010)

Lectures

A lecture involves the lecturer talking to the whole year group for usually 2 hours per week per module. (You will therefore have about 6 hours of lectures per week for law.) The purpose of lectures is to give you basic information about each subject and direct you to the main issues. You will need to take effective notes on what the lecturer says. Taking notes does NOT mean writing everything down word for word - see Note-taking!

Lectures cannot possibly, in the time available, cover everything you need to know and the format of a lecture means that it is not the ideal way to help students evaluate or critique the subject area. Instead, it can only highlight the main issues which you must supplement with further reading. Lectures should therefore be seen as signposting your own further study.

Kenny (2003) lists several purposes of lectures:

  • "It provides a body of material which can be used later to assist in seminar work and later still in preparing for examinations. All but the hopeless cases will expect to supplement their lecture material quite considerably for the latter purpose. A 'good set of notes' has a value in helping organisation of thoughts and in providing a psychological prop, but is not sufficient in itself for any but the barest of passes."
  • "The record you keep of lectures provides a valuable indication of the real syllabus."
  • "The lecturer will provide frequent reference to decided cases, learned articles and other sources of valuable information and critical comment....the references are meant to be followed up... [R]emember that lecturers refer you to articles that have stimulated their interest, and topics in which they have a keen interest frequently find their way into examination questions."
  • "In the same vein, the lecturer will attempt to bridge the gap between the printed text books and the present state of knowledge. The law in nearly every field is developing rapidly."
  • "The lecturer will have strongly held, often controversial, views about the way the subject is and ought to be developing. These views expressed in a forceful and challenging way will assist the student in developing his or her own critical faculties."

P. H. Kenny, Studying Law (5th edn) (London: Butterworths, 2003) pp28-29

The lecturer will usually put an outline of the lecture on KLE (The Keele Learning Environment) listing the headings covered in the lecture and directing you to further reading. Some may use presentation aids such as overhead projector transparencies or PowerPoint. You will learn very little by merely copying down the information you see on screen without thinking about it or taking in what the lecturer says - see Note Taking. For that reason, many lecturers do not use teaching aids; they want you to develop listening, thinking and note-taking skills.

Private Study

At university, the style of learning is very different to school. It is your responsibility to undertake private study by reading and understanding the course materials and undertaking your own research too.

Whereas lectures are the vital skeletal structure of your knowledge, it is private study that fleshes out and nourishes your understanding. Therefore, most of your time should be spent in private study. You will not pass your modules if you just attend the lectures and seminars and do the bare minimum of work.

Seminars

A seminar is an hour-long small group discussion (about 15 people) lead by a seminar leader. If you do not understand what is discussed in seminars, it will be extremely hard to pass the module. Therefore it is necessary to prepare in depth.

Unlike lecture attendance, seminar attendance is compulsory and seminar leaders keep an attendance register. Due to high student numbers in Law, it is crucial that students stick to the group they have been assigned to otherwise some groups become too big whilst others too small. Seminar leaders may turn you away if you attend the wrong group without good reason. This may seem harsh, but it is the only way of preventing seminars from becoming overcrowded and a cramped environment in which to learn.

Your study pack or the module outline will list the preparation you need to do for each seminar. This will usually involve reading some materials and answering some questions or preparing to debate a set of issues. It is also a good idea to use your seminar preparation time to write out notes giving a good general overview of the subject and incorporating key points from lectures, different articles and your textbook. This will be invaluable when it comes to revision. It is of crucial importance that you prepare for each seminar in advance. We estimate that you should do a minimum of 5 hours preparation for each seminar.

At the seminar you will discuss your preparation, guided by the seminar tutor. There is nothing worse for staff or students than a seminar group where nobody wants to speak; it's like getting blood from a stone. Seminars only work well if everyone has prepared and is keen to contribute to the collective learning experience.

Do not expect to be given 'the answers'. As long as you can support your argument there are generally no right or wrong answers! If you can back-up what you are arguing with evidence from judicial reasoning, academic commentary and other authoritative sources, then legal arguments can be constructed to suit a whole variety of outcomes and stances.

The purpose of the seminars is to ensure that you understand what you are learning and to develop critical skills. You should therefore use the opportunity to ask about anything from the lectures or reading that you have found unclear. Don't be afraid of saying the wrong thing as the whole purpose of seminars is to work through issues that may be hard to understand. There is no point in not preparing and then turning up and flicking through your study packs; you simply will have wasted your own and everyone else's time.

If you are forgetful or not good with timetables, get a diary and make a note of the precise dates of your seminars. In fact, even if you're not particularly forgetful, get a diary anyway - your life will run smoother if you use one to organise your time and remember where you need to be and when.

Legal Skills Workshops

Legal Skills (law-10021) has a different teaching structure from Tort and Public Law as the skills are learnt through the weekly lecture and a fortnightly 2-hour workshop. In order to prepare for the workshop each fortnight, you must do the pre-workshop preparation that is outlined in your Legal Skills module pack.

NB. The first Legal Skills lecture is on Friday 30th September at 11.00am (Westminster Lecture Theatre) whereas other lectures start the following week.

Online learning resources at Keele

There are two distinct web sites at Keele:

i. The main university website carries the official pages of the Law School, societies and central administration. This site can be accessed by anyone. The following pages are some with which you must familiarise yourself:

ii. The second site is the KLE which is a virtual learning environment that Keele has recently invested in. The KLE is sometimes referred to as WebCT.

  • All modules have a virtual learning environment section
  • To access the KLE, use your Keele username and password.
  • Questions on the content of course sections should be referred directly to your module leader.
  • If the student pages don't help you with your query, please contact the Help Desk on ext. 3636 or by email, itservice@keele.ac.uk

Key points

  • You are taught through lectures and seminars, except in Legal Skills where you have lectures and workshops.
  • It's extremely important to prepare for seminars and workshops, the purpose of which is to ensure you understand what you are learning.
  • Much of your time should be spent in private study.
  • The Keele web pages are an indispensable source of information and learning resources.